Innocence and Takoyaki
by keer-ree-elle
Summary: A series of drabbles, one shots, short stories, and things the author would desperately like to get off of her computer. I submitted a story for Citca-Kun's contest! Wish me luck!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Will never belong to me.....ever.....damn.

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Children

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_"Children?"_

_Yako thought… "I dunno, I've never really thought about it, ya'know? I mean, it's not like I'm dating at the moment, so I have no reason to think about it. It'd be like planning my wedding without the groom."_

_"Well, could you try to think of something?" The tiny reporter asked, her eyes large and brown behind thick glasses._

_"Well….." Yako began, "They'll be better people than I am. More normal, if possible. They'll hopefully live a good life, in a two-parent household. With plenty of food and love. Also……."_

_**-as seen in a popular magazine-**_

"………………..They'll be smart, or smarter than I am, at least. And they'll be average looking, no pretty boys or primping princesses. A boy and a girl, that's what I want, but I'll settle for anything. Although I want at least two, so that if something happens, they'll have each other to lean on.

_Hair color?_

Um…maybe blonde, like me, but black is just as likely, because of where I live and the dominance of that hair color in my area….

_Eye color?_

Well, mine's brown…so probably brown, if what was taught in biology class is right. But _green_ would look nice too…

_Would they be darker than myself?_

Dunno, does that matter?

_Height?_

Well, probably taller than me when they were full-grown. All the guys I know are, and I'm a little on the short side…"

Not that she "planned on marrying any of them"…Miss Yako said, as she laughed nervously.

When asked if she would she marry any of them given the chance, she replied:

"I don't know. They're all nice guys, but I just can't see…..being with any of them. Besides, I'm not the ideal woman for any of them. Trust me, I'm not."

She added at a later time that she would probably "eat them out of house and home."


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own. Aren't you glad?

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Sight

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_I saw them interact, a fairly easy thing to do, as they were almost always in the presence of a camera. (Yes… the great _HAL_, is a snoop). _

I saw the looks he gave her.

_They were the same looks I saw other men give to women of which they were fond. _

I saw the small gestures, the slip in his normal behavior.

_All creatures have their ways of showing their attraction to a fellow creature, and demons were no different. Those looks reminded me so of the looks Harukawa __gave Setsuna._

Except Haruka didn't use violence at all. Setsuna did.... in a way.

_._

_._

_._

I saw the ways in which he protected her.

_Most of the time he did so in a fairly violent way, although he left no lasting damage, I suppose.  
_

I suspect it was so she didn't suspect his _true_ feelings.

_._

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_However,_ I am not sure that he _was_, or _is_ completely aware of them _himself_.

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_._


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Nope. No own.

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_Train

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_

She really hated trains. Really, really, _really_ hated them.

An elbow was rudely jammed into her lower ribcage, and she winced in pain. She _hated_ trains and the people on them. Trains were crowded, smelt of B.O and vomit, were hot, humid and just downright plain gross.

The train car lurched and she stumbled backward.

Right into Neuro.

"Dishrag?"

"Gomen*." What Yako really hated was that she was too short to hang onto those nifty….whatchamacallems hanging down from the ceiling.

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"_Next stop, Osaka. Osaka. Next stop is Osaka_!"

.

Damn. Two more stations till they could get off. Slowly, the train rattled to a stop, and there was finally room to breathe decently.

.

A short breathe later, it was back to being the hot, humid, and exceedingly uncomfortably crowded.

.

The train lurched again.

Yako stumbled backwards, _again_.

Right into Neuro. _Again_.

"Dishrag…." Neuro warned.

"Sor-ry!" she griped, casting a glance backward at Neuro. In response to her tone, Neuro merely raised an eyebrow in a delicate arch. She merely shrugged. It wasn't her fault.

_God, she hated trains._

Neuro shifted his gaze to some people opposite him on the train. Following his gaze, Yako saw a young couple, sitting opposite them, with a barely-toddler on their laps. An elderly man stood in front of them, swaying with the train, and eyeing the doors with great interest; she didn't blame him. A boy, about twelve or so, leaned against the end of an end seat, headphones on and blaring ridiculously loud foreign pop music.

Yako jumped slightly as Neuro placed on of his hands on her shoulder, steadying her against the motion of the train. The train then happily shook and lurched again.

.

Yako _did not_ stumble.

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"Dish rag?"

"….Thanks…"

"_Sakaki! Sakaki! Next stop is Sakaki!_"

"Oh. Look, louse. It's our stop! Come along."

"mkay."

Yako meekly allowed Neuro to lead her off of the train by the shoulder.

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A.N:

Gomen= sorry

Also, did anyone catch the Azumanga Daioh references?

Also...I have no Idea why Neuro made them get off the train early. Thier stop, according to Yako, was supposed to be Chiyo.


	4. Contest Submission

Disclaimer and Author's notes:

I don't own.

This is for Citca~kun's competition. So. Yeah. Wish me luck!

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Mistletoe

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"Oh. Great." Kanae eyed the small green sprig of organic matter above her head with distaste. It hung, cheerful, inviting her to _just get on with it_.

Her gray-brown eyes flickered to the unfortunate man standing beside her, boggling at the plant above the two of them.

Feeling a pair of eyes on him, he glanced over at her. He decided that looking at the plant was a safer thing to do. Eyes still bore into his skull. He glanced back at her. She glared at him, looking, at the same time, slightly bored with the whole thing. He returned his gaze to that cheerful, spiteful little plant.

_He_ did not want to be at this Christmas party. Not at all. The food was bad, and people were being so phony.

_She_ came along only because her best friend begged her to come, so she wouldn't be the only female there.

And _neither_ of them wanted to be under the mistletoe.

Especially not with each other.

"Well. Get on with it." Kanae demanded, and rolled her eyes. He, rather comically, froze up. She rolled her eyes again, sighed dramatically, and closed her eyes quickly. She did not want to see this.

_Please don't be pathetic._

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Ishigaki glanced around the room a third time. _This_ was embarrassing. Everyone else, however, had vacated this room to go attack the appetizers in the kitchen. He took a deep breathe, and steadied himself.

_Please don't let this be illegal._

It was kind of awkward at first, but not bad. _Not bad at all_. Two seconds later, after they both got over the awkwardness, Kanae decided that it was…well…

.

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_Wowza_

_._

_._

_.

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_

"You're quite the kisser, Ishigaki-san." Kanae remarked coolly, digging around in her purse. Ishigaki flushed a rather brilliant hue of crimson.

"So..I'm Kanae Kogohara, Yako-chan's friend. You might have seen me around before?" she said, offering her free hand in greeting. Ishigaki clumsily accepted the proffered hand, shaking it nervously.

"J-Jun Ishigaki. Sasazuka-san's assistant."

"Nice to meet you then, Ishigaki-kun. How-" Someone hollered for her from the kitchen, interrupting her. "Hey, listen, I'll talk to you later. Bye!"

And with that, she left.

It was a full thirty seconds before Ishigaki realized that a small slip of crumpled up paper lay in his hands. Delicately opening it, he saw that it read:

"Call me, Chu-kun.

555-5555, Kanae Kogohara"

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A.N: Chu= a sound effect for kissing. Often used in manga and anime.


End file.
